Lawmakers have to pass a spending bill, estimated at $312 billion, to keep government agencies funded by December 7. Affected agencies include the Department of Homeland Security, which polices the border.

Trump has threatened to shut down the government over the border wall in the past. He said earlier this month that "this would be a very good time to do a shutdown" over border security.

The president told Politico that the $5 billion would only pay for the physical wall, adding that "the number is larger for border security."

He added that the border wall, which he promised to build during his presidential campaign, was a "total winner."

"I don't do anything ... just for political gain," he said. "But I will tell you, politically speaking, that issue is a total winner."

Migrants and US border patrol agents scuffled on Sunday, in which US agents fired tear gas at migrants and four agents were hit by rocks. Here Maria Lila Meza Castro, a 39-year-old migrant woman from Honduras, runs away from tear gas with her five-year-old twin daughters. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File photo

He added: "People look at the border, they look at the rush to the police, they look at the rock throwers and really hurting three people, three very brave Border Patrol folks — I think that it's a tremendous issue, but much more importantly, is really needed. So we have to have border security."

He was referring to a confrontation on Sunday between US border authorities and migrants at the border crossing between Tijuana and San Diego, California, when some rushed toward the US.